MODESTY IN DISCOURSE ANALYSIS. A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ENGLISH AND UZBEK LANGUAGES

Аннотация

This study examines the manifestation of modesty in discourse within English and Uzbek languages, highlighting its linguistic, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic dimensions. Modesty is defined and contextualized as a politeness strategy that helps maintain harmonious communication by discouraging self-praise. A comparative analysis reveals how English and Uzbek speakers employ modesty strategies, including specific syntactic constructions and lexical choices, to fulfill cultural expectations of humility. The paper discusses how gender and cultural norms shape the use of modesty in each language, with women often displaying stronger modesty norms in both contexts. Empirical examples from real conversations are provided to illustrate modesty expressions in practice. The findings underscore that while modesty is a universal communicative principle, its linguistic realizations and social significance vary across languages and cultures, carrying important implications for cross-cultural communication and discourse analysis. Key Words: modesty, discourse analysis, politeness, pragmatics, english language, uzbek language, gender, culture, face-saving.